Dana's Effect
by silentshadow01
Summary: After all the destruction caused by the Blacklight Virus and the Red Zone, things seems to be going bleak for Dana Mercer. But when the opportunity to change it around comes she'll take it as she will soon look upon the stars for her journey is just beginning. Look out universe, Dana M. Shepard is coming whether you like it or not
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone how's it going**

 **For those that know my work are probably wondering why I'm doing this. The reason why is because I seen crossovers with these two titles, and even then when I read Prototype Fanfiction I don't ever see Dana having a pivotal role in the story**

 **So I decided to make one where Dana is main focus, with of course Alex off in the background having his own adventure. Might make a series about it later, probably will tie in to the second game when I do**

 **9/7/15- Decided to get rid of the part that was here before because people were taking it the wrong way to what I actually wanted it to mean.**

 **Now with that out of the way**

 **Disclaimer: All property is owned by their rightful owners, I only own the story**

 **Now without further ado, lets get started**

* * *

Dana stared out solemnly into the skyline of the city from her room. She was currently in a hospital, stuck in a bed to be precise.

She didn't really have to worry about Blackwatch finding her here because Ragland, the saint he is for helping her and her brother in the past when others would just shoot them, used a favor he had with the chief of medicine in the hospital to get her a room without needing her personal information.

If there was a god he was an ass for doing this to her. She may not have been a preachy woman, or even went to church. . . . Ever, but that doesn't mean she doesn't believe in being kind to fellow human beings and that schtick when needed to be

Was it something she did in her past life that condemned her to this bed. To die a slow death

The door to her room opened and in stormed in the person she hasn't seen since she was taken by that Supreme Hunter all that time ago and fell into a coma where after she woke up Ragland told her what Alex did during her time unconscious. She was proud that he defeated Greene, stopped the army from nuking New York and was happy to know that he personally erased the infected from the city by making a stronger potent of Bloodtox that didn't affect him.

"Sir you can't go in there" A nurse said trying to stop him

"Bite me" Alex, her older brother, said with cold tone underlined with malice that sent shivers that the nurse's spine. Before she could do anything he slammed the door in front of the woman and locked it.

Alex walked calmly over to her and sat down on the chair next to her bed. His eyes looking over his body as she can see the empathy in his eyes. She must look horrible, with her skin turning incredibly pale, her hair falling off, bags under her eyes, IV's in her wrist and arms

"What can I say, cancer is a bitch" Dana said her throat slightly raspy from not talking in a long since they brought her here a few months ago.

". . . . How bad is it" Alex asked after a moment with complete seriousness

"Well apparently what happened in the Red Zone did more of a number in me then I guessed" Dane said with a scoff as she noticed Alex's intense gaze ". . . . When I fell into a coma Blacklight actually entered my blood stream but it didn't infect me. Apparently I'm one of a billion who's genetics can ignore the Blacklight virus. Sadly I wasn't cut out to be Runner like you" Dana said with a weak laugh that turned into a coughing fit as Alex placed a hand on her shoulder. Once Dana calmed down she continued "As you know that damn virus is constantly evolving, so what better way to find a way to kill by forming cancer all over my organs" Dana said with a wave of her arm gesturing to her body

"Cant the doctors do anything" Alex asked

"Nope, even if they do get rid of the cancer that is forming they can't do anything to stop the cancer that is in my brain, unless they want to kill me of course. So the most they can do is make the pain bearable" Dana said with a soft smile

"Why are you smiling, this isn't a good thing Dana" Alex said harshly

Dana looked at him, he wasn't angry she was waving off this serious issue like her life wasn't coming to an end. No, he was hiding the fact the only person who considered him alive, human, a caring brother, is a dying

"It's because if I don't I'll just break down crying about how life is cruel and besides" Dana said shifting in her bed slightly as Alex moved to help her but she waved it off "I was able to see you again, big brother" Dana said while Alex stared at her with his fist clenched tightly and looked down. Dana just smiled when he did, it just showed he still has emotions because he can't bear to see her like this "Alex" Dana said softly as her brother raised his head to look at her "Come here" Dana said gesturing to get closer.

Alex did as she said and was surprised at what she did. Dana wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. Alex just sat there, not sure what to do, every fiber of his being said consume, but not his mind or heart. Those two, they were hurting and even if he can't cry anymore, he really wanted to right now.

Dana smiled when she felt her brother wrap his arms around her body and returned the hug. She forgot the last time they actually ever hug, before all this ever happened. Before her brother became Blacklight, but even when he turned he still acted like her brother, just a little more concerned and caring than usual

After a good moment they finally let go of one another as Alex helped her lay back down on the bed. Dana then stared up at Alex and laughed slightly

"What?" Alex asked confused to why she would suddenly laugh

"No, it's just. . . . I always thought that after all the crap in the Red Zone I would, I don't know. Explore the world or some crap" Dana said with a sad sigh

They remained in silence as Alex thought of something. He frowned, he couldn't do that to Dana, couldn't subject her to what made him into a monster

"You have that look that says you're either about to murder something or you have something on your mind" Dana said "Twenty bucks says it's the latter" Dana mused as Alex had to smirk. Even with the fact her life is coming to an end her sense of humor won't leave her

". . . . . . If you had a way out, to actually see the world like you said. . . Would you take it" Alex asked with some hesitance as Dana just stared at him

". . What are you suggesting" Dana asked after a moment

Alex raised his arm as tendrils writhe around it "I turn you into what I am" Alex said as the tendril disappeared

Dana closed her eyes and took a deep breath "Okay"

"I should've guessed you say n- Wait what?" Alex said as he was actually thinking she would say no, or even tell him that was a stupid or even hit him. Never did he think she would say yes to his suggestion

"I said yes, I'll be honest Alex. I'm afraid to die, I'm afraid to just give up without a fight" Dana said as tears poured from her eyes as she started to breathe harder "So I don't really care what is going to happen to me, just promise me one thing" Dana said with a serious look "Promise me that whatever I become, I don't lose sight in my humanity" Dana said choking back tears

Alex reached over and wiped the tears off the corner of her eyes "I promise" Alex said before standing up as tendrils writhe around his left arm once more "Close your eyes and when you wake up" Alex raised his arm up with his hand flat and pointed at Dana "We'll be on a plane going anywhere of your choosing. How's does that sound" Alex said softly

"That sounds nice" Dana said closing her eyes as she took a deep breath as she felt something pierce her chest. It didn't hurt, no, it felt nice like a warm blanket covering her as she let out her last human breath and went under.

The dark nothingness was a nice feeling actually, to clear her thoughts, collect herself

"RUN!"

 _'?'_

"EVERYONE MOVE!"

 _'What's going on?'_

"ALIENS!"

* * *

 _ **2157**_

Dana blinked as she looked around and realized she was having a flashback of when she turned into what she is now. Dana took a moment to sift through her memories of what happened and how she got here while pulling out a piece of rubble from her temple

Dana remembered how it her journey started, she woke up later in the day she became a Runner in a private plane Alex apparently got. Apparently not only did he take the memories of the people he killed but also their bank accounts. Alex did as he promised, he took her to see the world with him and she was happy to say the least to be able to do that. Sure the virus turned her slightly into a sociopath because she would have no feelings of remorse when she killed someone. But Dana figured it was just a defense mechanism for her new body to not worry about what she did. Thankfully she was still able to be social with people without being brushed off as cold or vindictive towards people, unlike a certain older brother of hers

During the time they traveled Alex helped her become stronger by giving her some of his genetic makeup that he acquired during the Red Zone crisis.

Oddly enough her body changed differently to what Alex was expecting when he gave her some of his genetic makeup. When she tried to make his giant blade, both of her arms turned into thin one sided blades that formed from her ring finger to her pinkie outward about a foot and ran along the sides of her arms up to elbow that jutted out a few inches in segregated spikes while her other fingers were sharp black jagged digits.

When she tried to do Hammer Fists she instead made a stronger version of Muscle Mass that was covered in spikes made of a hard yet sharp bone substance. What surprised the two of them when she made it for the first time was the spikes around it actually moved like saw around the entirety of her arms to shred things up.

Her claws were still claws but instead of Alex's four finger machete like blades she actually kept all her fingers but the size of the claws were only slightly larger than a combat knife on each digit. What's more is that on the back of her wrist was four bone-like spikes that she learned she can fire them out of her wrist at a range around ten meters every five seconds.

The only thing that stayed the same was the fact she can form a shield around her arm or her full body armor that had more of resemblance of her feminine physique but even that was slightly different. Her armor was thinner, more flexible, allowing her to run faster than Alex when he is in full armor as well. Apparently all this just showed her genetics made her to be more swift and agile than Alex could ever possibly be. Which made sense because his style is more about brute force and total annihilation of the enemy

Not that she can complain, she enjoyed the fun she had with her abilities.

They explored everything earth has to offer and was the world beyond theirs was open to their reach they went to it.

This only happened when humans found some ruins on Mars with evidence of life before them. They were both intrigued when they learned of this, they wanted to know more about this so when human's incorporated Mass Effect technology to traverse space easier they took the first shuttle to a new colony humans have started. True they had to wait a few years to a decade before they could ever leave earth but as a virus the one thing they know, other than killing, is to be patient

So they spent their time learning about a new Element humans found called Element Zero.

When Alex first came into contact with Element Zero he felt pain all over his body and Dana didn't know what to do, that is until he started glowing red and ran when she thought he was going to unleash a Devastator. But that didn't happen as Dana came back to see Alex in total control and his body still glowing red

Alex explained something in him grew out of nowhere to compensate for what was going through his body. He then lifted his hand up as Dana felt herself become weightless and realized she was hovering a foot off the ground. Dana was in awe at what Alex was doing until she felt a strain in her body as it absorbed the effect that was happening to her body and was soon covered in a red aura as well.

Dana then cut herself off from what Alex was doing and dropped back down onto the ground before letting a fit of giggles at what just happened while Alex just smiled like crazy at what they were able to do

That is before learning human babies were exhibiting these signs as well but were covered in an aura of blue than red so they figured it be best not to use this ability often. Red is very distinctive color of not being human it seems.

After all this they were able to go to the nearest space faring colony until she goes to a newer one that is built because she wanted to explore what that world has to offer while Alex wanted to have fun with the wildlife and find the deadliest creatures on the planet. . . . Then consume them. This process kept going on for quite some time, each time she would use a different face, gender, skin color, even age when she learned how to hide in plain sight with great effectiveness while Alex. . . Didn't care and kept his looks the same

She was currently visiting Shanxi disguised as a little girl because no one would suspect a little girl of being something evil

It was all going well, simple exploration of a new planet while talking to her brother on her Omni-tool. They didn't always travel together, figuring that it would be better if they travel to different colonies to make it easier to stay hidden, especially if Alex wouldn't change his form. They not that often, usually enough to count on one hand per year but when they do they talk about everything they done up until they called the other just to make sure they were okay. This was mostly Dana calling her brother to make sure he didn't do something stupid yet to get the military's interest

She finished her call with Alex and looked up when she heard something. What she saw was an unknown navy fleet directly above the colony as military looking transport shuttles started going down onto the planets surface while the fleet above was attacking theirs.

It was then that colony people around Dana realized what was happening which excited her to no ends.

Aliens are attacking them

But before she could do anything she looked up to see an air to ground missile was fired straight at her

"Well fuck" Was all Dana muttered as the missile exploded right in front of her and turned her into a puddle of blood and muscles, which brings this story back to its main point

Dana finished reforming as she looked around to see civilians running in terror while soldiers stayed and tried to push the invaders back.

 _'These guys are well trained to be able to do push our military back. Though that's not really an acomplishment anymore as these soldiers are nothing compared to the soliders back in the day when they tried to hunt Alex down in the Red Zone'_ Dana thought as she watched passively as the Alliance soldiers were being pushed back by the invaders

Dana decided it was best to avoid this confrontation so she silently moved away from the fights and into an now abandoned building. Dana walked calmly through the building without a care in the world as she exited the back door of the building and into the streets behind the building.

 _'Dammit'_ Dana thought irritably as she just walked into a giant platoon of the aliens.

At that moment she contemplated, kill them before they could do anything or act like a defenseless child to see what kind of beings they are. She chose the latter and watched what they would do because it seemed more fun in her opinion

Apparently they were assholes and shot in her head without mercy. The rounds they fire were but the size of a grain of sand so it didn't really do much to her but she played dead nonetheless.

She waited and listened to them argue with one another in a language she has no knowledge of. . For now that is

Once they finished arguing they started to move and that's when Dana got back up. Dana rushed towards the platoon and jumped onto an alien that was on back of the platoon. Before the alien could even yell out in shock she gripped it's throat and ripped it off. The alien died like any other being as her tendrils got to work consuming it into her bio-mass and learned some things about this aliens genetic, like its protein base is dextro base and not amino base like humans

The other's didn't even noticed she killed on of their men and soon shape shifted into their comrade. Let it be known that military grunt, no matter what species are completely dense when it comes to Alex's or her stealth kills. Seriously every time either of them does that you could literally hear them either cracking the person's neck very loudly or ripping the flesh off of them but no one notices

Dana sighed internally before the memories of the alien she just killed came to her. So many different species, a Council, different planets, different languages, so many things to do with this information. But first

Dana smiled wickedly as she could with this form of the, turian if her memories are correct, as she morphed into her armored form and her hands into claws

"Time to get these invaders off the planet" Dana said in basic turian dialect that attracted the attention of the other soldiers who turned and was shocked to see a monstrosity standing behind them without them noticing

Dana didn't let them even let them aim their guns at her as she closed the distance to the nearest soldier and cut his head off with her claws. She moved to the next and thrust her right claw through the next soldier, cleaved the next in half, ripped the next one's face off, kicked the neck of the next soldier hard enough that it snapped before he hit the ground. She kept killing without mercy and figured she may help the humans by dealing with one platoon as she crushed her head of a turian with her claws

Dana finished slaughtering the entire platoon and turned her head to stare at the last turian left alive. The memories she took said that the man was not only the leader of this platoon but also the General by the name Desolas, lucky her.

Desolas looked at her in horror as took a step back but tripped and fell onto his back. He tried to move back but Dana was already on him. Dana grabbed him by his neck and lifted him up off the ground with his feet dangling an inch off the ground.

Dana dropped him and he landed on his feet stumbling back before straightening himself as he looked at up. Dana thrust both her claws into the turian's chest piece and peeled it open, along with the turian's carapace like skin as it revealed the organs inside. Dana pulled one claw back before she thrust it into turian's beating heart and straight out its back as he gagged a bit before tendrils writhe around his body as he was soon consumed by Dana

Dana turned her arms back to normal as the memories of the Turian she killed came to her. If the memories were correct, and they are, she know's exactly where the other turians are going to attack and how.

She may not be human anymore, but that doesn't mean she won't help them. Especially with the memories showing they wanted to turn humans into a client race, that just screamed legal slavery in her mind with how they lord themselves above their client races as a supreme military, yeah it was not going to happen.

"Well" Dana said taking a step forward "Seems I have a war to win" Dana said with a smirk as she dashed off towards the next platoon

That day was known as the First Contact War and the beginning of the legend of the Black Wraith or the Demonic guardian, depending on what side you were on during the conflict. It wasn't even a war with how short it was, didn't even last an entire day before it ended due to unknown variable making it's presence known in the conflict

All sightings of this black figure in a chitinous sort of armor was brutally murdering the turian army left and right without mercy with, what reports states, metallic claws. When the Alliance Navy was questioned about this that they claim they have no knowledge of this creature but there was serious doubts about when Salarian STG tried into this even they found nothing about this being attacking the turians.

Rumors say the Shadow Broker knows but the truth is that even he has been scratching his head to find the information about what happened. All that is known is this figure came out of nowhere and helped repel the Turian ground force that gave the Alliance enough breather to bring back online the anti orbital cannons which was enough to push the turian fleet back into the 314 mass effect relay

Whatever the creature was it went into the dark with no sign of it surfacing. But inside the military, a small splinter cell that will soon grow in power knows what did this and they will be prepared to hunt it down when the time comes to either destroy it or further humanities power in the food chain

* * *

 **Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and expect to see another update in a month or so. No promises though with my hectic schedule**

 **So until next time please leave a comment, review or PM and I'll see you all later, have a great day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**How's it going everyone I'm back with a new chapter**

 **Well before we begin I would like to say the buildup to the main story of Mass Effect will take about three to four chapters. Mostly because I have some ideas I want to do before then**

 **Also some characters you know may or may not be OoC (Out of character for those who don't know what it means) and I apologize if you don't like that but that's how I'm going with the story**

 **To those that have no idea what Dana's sword form look like, imagine if she has two bladed tonfas for hands with the head of the tonfa extended outward enough to be considered a stabbing and slicing weapon**

 **Also thank you ChampionofVale for helping me with this**

 **So that's all I have to say, so before we begin**

 **Disclaimer: All property is owned by their rightful owners, I only own the story**

 **Now without further ado, let's begin**

* * *

 **2170**

It's been over ten years since the First Contact war and Dana has once again fallen off the grid. It was nice during these ten or so years, she's talked to many different aliens during this time, some nice, some rude, some violent and consumed said violent aliens. She learned a lot more about the galaxy than she'd like to admit, like that time she went to Tuchanka. She is not going to step foot on that barren irradiated wasteland of a planet ever again after what's happened there. That's a story she will never tell of, ever.

Other than small skirmishes with pirates raiding the transport ships she is on every so often, she really hasn't done much of any fighting. Unlike her brother who apparently gained a home and name in Omega in the Terminus system

Apparently, he is considered king of Omega for reasons she didn't really care to know, she'd rather not be involved in the more. . shady aspects of his life. . . Again. Sure she may love her brother but that doesn't mean she'll want to ruin what she has now of traveling the galaxy by getting involved in what he does on a daily bases. She prefers the freedom of travel over being a criminal overlord in Omega.

It's kind of ironic when she learned he was considered the king of Omega when his code name is Zeus, king of the gods. Kind of funny when you think about it.

Dana let out a sigh as she walked down the street of the colony her ship stopped on. She's currently on the colony called Mindoir for a pit stop because she doesn't enjoy being cooped up in ships for such long periods of time with nothing to do.

She found this place kind of nice, had a nice feel to it, the people were nice. It was just one of those places you just couldn't help but take in the silence and serenity in the air.

"Hey, Dana!"

Dana turned to smile at who was greeting her. It was a six year old girl with dark brown hair and the sweetest smile you would ever see

"Hey, Talitha, how are you doing today" Dana replied while crouching down to the little girl's height

"I'm great, mama is going to take me to the lake later" Talitha said excitedly

"That's really fantastic" Dana said with a smile

"Talitha, come here" An older woman with the same dark brown hair said as she walked up to the pair. The woman was in her mid thirties and looked like an older version of Talitha, which made sense as the woman was the girl's mother

"Yes mama" Talitha said rushing over to her mother's side

"I'm sorry if she bothered you" The woman said in polite tone

"No it's alright, Agatha. I really enjoy talking to Talitha" Dana said waving off the concern as she stood back up with a smile

"Well I guess so because Talitha enjoys the stories you tell her of your travels. So hard to believe someone as young as you could go to so many places and have such adventures" Agatha said as the two shared a chuckle

"Well what can I say, I want to see everything that our galaxy has to offer" Dana said with her head up high and a smile

"That's good for you, it's nice to have dreams to follow and to be young to do it" Agatha said with a reminiscent sigh

"Oh come off it Aga, you're still young and beautiful" Dana complimented the woman who let out a small giggle

"How nice of you to say. Do you think you can come swim with us later, I'm sure Talitha already told you we were going to the lake" Agatha said while placing a hand on her daughter's head who beamed at the thought of Dana joining them

"I don't wan't to intrude" Dana said softly

"Oh come now, you're a good friend of the family. Even if you have been staying at the colony for less than a week. Besides, your ship is leaving tomorrow to take you off planet to some other planet so why don't you spend your last day with us" Agatha said with a smile

Dana thought about it before looking down at Talitha who had a big smile on her face and had her hands in a pleading motion that Dana couldn't help but chuckle at

"Alright, I'm in. I'll come by later" Dana said with a wink and smile giving in to their request

"Yay~" Talitha exclaimed happily as two older women giggled at the young girl's bliss

"I'll see you there, I just need to look into something first" Dana said as she turned to leave

"Alright then, we'll see you there. Come on, Talitha" Agatha said guiding her daughter away

"Okay, bye Dana~" Talitha said waving as Dana waved back before the girl stopped and followed her mother

Dana let out a content sigh, it was always nice to talk to people like them. So kind and thoughtful of others that it made her feel human again. It also made her sad that she had to leave but it was for the best. Better to be constantly on the run then stay at one spot where her secret could be found out.

Dana shook her head at the thought before walking towards the outskirts of the colony. She always did this a day before leaving a colony. She would go out of the colony, find a herd of whatever animal is on this planet and consume a good amount to last her the trip through space with how long it takes to travel from colony to colony.

After a good hour of hunting and consuming she felt her biomass at its fullest and was content with it. Dana made the trek back to the colony with ease. Once she came upon the colony in the horizon her enhance smell made her get a good whiff of something

Blood

Dana wondered why the smell was there as she didn't see any dead animal around. It was then she noticed the smell was coming from the colony and her eyes widened slightly at the sight of smoke coming from the colony along with batarian shuttles hovering around it and immediately knew what was happening

A slave run.

When she learned there was an entire race that practiced slavery she didn't think she could feel such disgust again but there it was, utmost disgust for this species in general. Hell she even hates consuming them with the memories of what they did to their slaves just angered her

"Agatha, Talitha. Shit!" Dana cursed realizing those two wouldn't stand a chance against the slavers.

Dana ran as fast as she could, which was incredibly fast given the fact she could force her body to move faster and push herself harder than any normal person could. She was at the colony's entrance in less than a minute and even before she could see the gates she could already hear the screams of terror from populace being corralled like animals.

Once she entered the colony she saw the mayhem that took place while she was gone. Guards that were posted to the colony were strewn across the ground dead, along with several other civilians that tried to fight back. There were also several of the children that lived in the colony mixed amongst the corpses which made Dana livid. Children were the one thing she would never harm and to see these batarians would mercilessly kill them with no remorse made them more of a monster than her

"There's one" A slaver shouted while pointing at her to his two companions

Dana didn't even think as she jumped into the air and pounced on the batarian slaver before he had the chance to shoot her. Dana smashed her fist against the batarian she just pounced on as his head caved in from the blow and her tendrils consumed him.

Dana didn't even finish consuming the slaver when the recently killed slaver's companions started shooting at her. Dana grabbed the slaver on the right and brought his head down onto her knee as his skull caved in with her tendril consuming the corpse. Dana then did a 180 as she grabbed the other slaver by his neck, she then lift him overhead and and slammed him head first onto the ground with a loud splat as his body was consumed as well

Dana felt the memories of the slavers she killed and saw this was a standard bag and grab. But she also saw that they were being paid to do so before the assault and not after when they deliver their 'Products'

Dana let out a feral growl at the thought of them selling these kind people.

Dana was about to shift her body and slaughter but stopped when she remembered she can't go full on slaughter again. Last time had bad repercussions and caused the entire alien community of a whole galactic community to distrust humans with the fact she came out of nowhere to save them during the First Contact War. Apparently her winning the battle caused the council species to distrust humanity in any of their actions whether good or bad because they don't believe they had nothing to do with her appearance.

Alex on the other hand, didn't care one bit about repercussions and would usually tell her to go nuts. His response to trouble after that is just to hide in plain sight using a different face, gender or species.

Dana scoffed at that, she didn't want to change her face again, she finally was able to use her own face again after so long. She refuses to change it again but the desire to shift and murder all these batarians is so tempting. After a quick deliberation she figured that it would be best not to shift.

Dana thought about what to do before looking down at the blood that remained from her consumption. She then noticed the guns that remained next to the puddles of blood as well

". . . . . Well, I am a technically a great marksman. . Well not me entirely, mostly people I killed were" Dana mused as she picked the weapon the ground which was a Mk-6 Avenger assault rifle "These guys sure got their money's worth to get the current models of this gun's brand" Dana muttered before she took it apart and put it back together in less than a minute to see that all parts were good.

Dana ran towards the center of the colony, killing any batarian she ran into with extreme prejudice. After killing at least twenty or so batarians, she doesn't really count how many she killed just that she's putting them down as quickly as she can, she makes it to the center of the colony to see a heavy firefight. It was a fight between the slavers and a group of alliance military, who from the clothing they wore shows they were here for leave, were attempting to suppress them. Attempting is the keyword as they were taking severe casualties if the six dead bodies surrounding the remaining six soldiers meant anything.

Dana decided to do what she did best in this situation. Kill the opposition

Dana began firing upon the slavers who took notice of her and fired back. Dana was incredibly thankful that while she was moving, even if she was getting hit a few times, that the rounds mass effect weapons fired were the size of a grain of sand. This meant that her body healed faster than they could shoot her, unlike old firearms that left quarter size holes in her that took about a second to heal. Not much of a difference in the time of her body regenerating but it meant her wounds were much more easier to conceal and it wasted less mass for her to use.

Because of this, it made her look untouchable to the Alliance soldiers she was helping push back the slavers at the moment.

Dana made it to the alliance soldiers that were hiding behind cover and joined them. Dana crouched behind cover next to a soldier who had a helmet over his head so she didn't know what he looked like, but what she did notice was the emblem of N7 on the man's chest.

"I have no idea who you are or where you learned to shoot like that but your help is appreciated" The N7 soldier, that is probably the leader of the group, said with a nod

"Of course, let's kick these bastards asses first and talk later" Dana quipped as the man chuckled and nodded

They popped up from the cover and began shooting at the batarians who were exposed from their own cover.

"Snipers! Take him down!" Dana shouted as her enhanced 20/20 vision spotted two snipers on the roof to the left before anyone else could. Dana watched as three soldiers of this squad turned to the snipers and shot them down.

Dana had to scoff lightly. She had to hand it to these soldiers, they knew what they were doing as long as they got good orders.

"Throw a grenade on the left side, suppress the right flank, you with me we're moving up" Dana dished out her orders before pointing at the N7 soldier next to her as everyone did as she said. One soldier took out a grenade and threw it into the left side of the battlefield where a couple of slavers were behind cover. The grenade took out two of the slavers and forced three more out into the open as they were mowed down by her and her companion while the right flank couldn't get a bead on them. Seems the remaining soldiers were doing their job of suppressing fire as they even took out a few of them

Without even realizing it Dana had the entire squad of soldiers take down half of the slavers in less then a minute.

"Missile, dodge!" Dana shouted as she tackled the soldier next to her on the ground as a missile flew past them and exploded in the background. Dana rolled into a standing position. She fired upon the heavy weapon slaver as his shields failed and was covered in rounds before falling back dead.

The batarians realized they were fighting a losing battle and were incredibly lucky when their shuttles came down to evacuate them. They started retreating into their shuttles, a few being shot down before they could enter the shuttles until the last batarian got into a shuttle and the doors closed. The shuttles then began to take off much to Dana's displeasure

"Oh hell no!" Dana shouted as she ran over to the heavy weapon slaver she recently killed and took his missile launcher. Dana took aim at the closest shuttle and was about to pull the trigger

"No!" The N7 soldier that was fought alongside her shouted and pushed her aim off. The missile fired into the air and missed the shuttle as it exploded off into the distance

"What the hell are you doing!" Dana shouted angrily at the soldier

"Stopping you from shooting that transport shuttle down. There are civilians in there!" The soldier shouted at Dana

"Well la de dah how heroic of you, now they are going to live their lives as slaves where instead they could've died a quick death which is more preferable than that. How mother fucking fantastic" Dana said sarcastically while shooting her hands up in the air. Dana held her hand up the man's face plate before he could utter a word as she just shook her head before walking off. She took a few steps away from the soldier who went back to his squad as she took a deep breath "AGATHA!" Dana shouted incredibly loud, so loud that it caused the soldiers to flinch and look in her direction while wondering how she yell so loudly. Mostly due to the fact she just altered her vocal cords accordingly to do so.

Dana stayed quiet as she closed her eyes and felt her body shift ever so slightly as her senses were now heightened to its fullest. She sent out a pulse that went across the entire colony until she felt something as the pulse returned back to her, giving her the location of Agatha in her mind

Dana ran off to the side down the street of the colony until she made it to an alleyway and if she still had a heart it would've broke at what she saw

Agatha was on the ground, her back leaning up against the wall of an alleyway while she was covered entirely in blood.

"Agatha!" Dana shouted as she knelt down next to the woman before noticing she was kneeling in puddle of the her blood "Agatha, it's me, Dana!" Dana said shaking the woman's shoulder slightly until Dana saw her open her eyes to look up at her

"D-Dana" Agatha said weakly before tears began falling from her eyes when the woman looked at her

"It's alright, it's over I'll get you some he-"

"They took her, they took Talitha" Agatha sobbed as she cut Dana off "I tried to stop them, they just shot me in response and took her" Agatha sobbed with a pained groan as Dana placed her hand on the older woman's shoulder

"It's alright, I'll get her back for you so just stay with me and before you know it we'll be off to the lake for that swim I promised. . Agatha?" Dana said after a moment before realizing Agatha died while she was talking

Dana stared down at Agatha's still body as she felt several emotions go through her. Sorrow, regret, anger, rage

 _'It's my fault, I should've just shifted and be damned of the consequences'_ Dana thought bitterly as she lowered her head _'You shouldn't have been taken so soon, nor should your daughter go through this'_ Dana thought as she balled up her hands into fists and shook them

"I'll kill every last one of them" Dana said angrily as she slammed her fist into the ground as it cracked under the pressure.

"Do you really think it would be that easy"

Dana turned to see the soldier she fought with was standing at the entrance of the alley.

"Easier than you think" Dana said determinedly

The soldier let out a soft ha as he took his helmet off. It revealed a man with dark skin, shaven head and a tactful look in his eyes

"My name is David Anderson, I am the lieutenant commander of the SSV Hastings, currently on leave with my squad. I would like to help you with that goal of yours" Anderson stated as Dana narrowed her eyes at him

"Why?" Dana said simply

"Because I see great potential in you. You have the capability to lead and win" Anderson said taking a few steps forward before continuing "And that's why I have to ask. Will you join the Alliance, you will do great things if you join, I know it from just this battle" Anderson said as Dana blinked before glaring at him

"What, this skirmish? That was just common sense to do what I did to win" Dana said dryly "Anyone could have done what I did".

"Yes but you acted upon it and delivered the orders like they were nothing. Most would flinch and hesitate if they were to give orders, you didn't. When you did you just gave out orders, told them what to do and commanded my squad like it was nothing. That's what a leader is supposed to do, move forward, lead, and survive. You did all those like they were a basic instinct" Anderson explained

Dana let out a scoff and shook her head "I'm not a leader, I'm a killer, a murderer, a person who will be covered in blood and not care about. I will be ruthless not kind, do you really want a leader to be like that" Dana challenged the man who simply looked at her with an analytical gaze

"If you really are ruthless, then why care about this woman you're kneeling in front of" Anderson pointed out bluntly. Dana kept staring at him as her eyes flickered with hesitation before steeling themselves "I see it in your eyes, you care more about others than you say" Anderson said calmly

Dana frowned and took a deep breath. Dana turned back to her friend and picked her body up

"Where are you going?" Anderson asked as he watched the girl carry the woman's body out of the alleyway

"I'm going to bury her, if you don't see me by tomorrow when the shuttles come to take people off planet than the answer is clear" Dana said softly as he walked by the man with a solemn look on her face

Anderson did nothing to stop her but just watch as the young woman walk away with her friends body in her arms. Anderson was about to walk back to his squad but he stopped when he looked down to where she was kneeling before. He didn't notice it before because Dana's body was in the way but the spot where she punched the ground made a deep indent in the concrete

Anderson's brow creased when he saw that and looked back in the direction Dana went and saw nothing. Anderson stood in that spot before he heard his squad calling out to him. Anderson took one last look at the cracked ground before walking off to his squad

* * *

Anderson watched as the shuttles for the civilians came and took them off world. Only a few handful decided to stay after what happened, which was understandable.

During this time he hasn't seen the woman from yesterday at all and after the last civilian shuttle left the planet he figured she left with it.

Anderson let out a small sigh "Shame really, she would've made a great soldier" Anderson said to himself before walking down the street to meet up with his squad. Anderson walked down the desolate street for quite some time before stopping when he walked by someone who was leaning against the wall of a building

"I thought you left" Anderson said turning to look the woman in the eyes

"I thought about what you said, it's just too much trouble to try and an entire slaver society without a plan. Even for someone like me" Dana said as she muttered the last part to herself

Anderson raised a brow when he heard that last bit but said nothing about it "Welcome to the Alliance ma'm" Anderson said holding his hand out as Dana shook it

"A pleasure, just don't make me regret it" Dana said dryly

"Of course ma'm though, call me inconsiderate for not asking sooner, what is your name" Anderson asked as he realized he didn't know the woman's name

Anderson watched as the woman blink before going into thought. Anderson stared at the woman as he realized the woman isn't going to give him her real name, which was fine. Everyone has their secrets

After a moment she turned back to him with a cocky smirk "The name's Dana M. Shepard, don't you forget it" Dana declared with her head held up high

"Getting cocky are we" Anderson replied with a smirk of his own

"Better being a brooder" Dana said with an amused scoff as Anderson guessed there was an inside joke to it

"Well then, I guess you're coming with me. Got to get you to basic training but don't worry, I see you graduating from that in just a few weeks" Anderson said as Dana smirked "Hell, prove yourself like you did yesterday and you might get into the N program and could earn the designation of N7 like myself" Anderson said while tapping the left side of his breastplate where his N7 logo was

Dana let out a scoff "You say that but I might even make a new designation because I'm not an ordinary girl" Dana said with a smirk

"Now, now, don't get too cocky" Anderson warned her as Dan let out an amused laugh

"I'm not, I'm just saying that I'm going to outclass everyone there so they'll have no choice to create a new rank for the N program once I'm done" Dana said with her hands on her hip

Anderson let out a soft laugh "We'll see" Anderson said as they soon got to his squad where they got ready to embark back onto their ship with Dana along with them

* * *

 **~Six months later~**

 **2171**

"Hello Captain, congratulations on your new position" Dana said walking to Anderson in a standard Onyx armor that had two white stripes with a red stripe in the middle going down her right arm

They were currently at Fort Charles Upham which was based on one of Saturn's moons. Dana was just about to leave to meet her new CO but saw Anderson and decided to say hello and congratulate him for getting promoted

"Thank you and it's a pleasure to see you again Dana, how have you been" Anderson asked politely

"Doing great, just finished my N program training. I passed with flying colors like I said I would" Dana said with a smirk as Anderson couldn't help but chuckle

"I knew you would, congratulations on graduating and becoming an N-" Anderson stopped talking when he noticed what was on Dana's armor. Anderson stared intently at the symbol before looking up to Dana's face who had the biggest shit eating grin he has ever seen ". . . . Dana, what is that" Anderson pointing at the N symbol on her chest

Next to the N was two small open diamonds, with one on top of the other, forming an odd shaped eight. Not to mention the symbol was gold and not regulation silver.

"Just the N8 badge of honor" Dana said with a grin "Told you they would make a new designation for me" Dana said with pride in her voice while Anderson just kept staring at the symbol "Hey, it's rude to look at a woman's chest you know" Dana said completely amused at his reaction while snapping her fingers in front of Anderson's face as he snapped out of his stupor

"Sorry, it's just. . . How in the world is this possible. No one can just make a new designation out of nowhere. I didn't even hear about this, so how is this possible" Anderson said quietly in shock as he looked back up to Dana who shrugged

"Well to answer to how I got this designation, you do know the standard procedure to actually get the designation of N7" Dana said

"Of course, candidates for N training have to train for more than 20 hours per day. They also must lead small combat teams through hostile terrain with little sleep or food. Trainees who do well in the first initial stages are awarded an internal designation of N1 and are invited to return to different courses to get a higher designation. These subsequent courses that are designated N2-N6 are often held off-planet and include instruction in zero-G combat, military free-fall (parachuting), jetpack flight training, combat driving, combat instruction, linguistics, and frontline trauma care for human and alien biology. During N6 training it includes combat experience in hostile combat zones throughout the galaxy. If the trainee survives these scenarios in 'admirable and effective fashion' he or she finally receives the coveted N7 designation" Anderson stated calmly like he repeated this a hundred times which he probably did to some other recruits under his command

"Correct but the thing is, do you know the average time it takes to get the designation of N7" Dana inquired

"Usually around three to four months before they are finished with the training" Anderson replied calmly

"Well~" Dana said rubbing the back of her neck "I did it in a month. . . Well actually a week and a half" Dana said with a weak chuckle while Anderson just stared at her

". . It's been six months since we last met, when did this exactly happen" Anderson said feeling a headache coming on from the absurdity he was hearing

"Well when you left me at that basic training camp, which I did finish in a month, I was placed in several different ships that were going to combat zones because the instructors noticed I was quite the crack shot so they sent me out into the battlefield for some time. Four months later I was asked if I wanted to join the N program which I agreed and here we are" Dana said cutting corners a bit with her explanation for the hell of messing with the captain. Hey she may be part of the military now but that doesn't mean her personality has to change.

Fun fact, she went through three instructors at basic training because they couldn't handle he attitude to not train like other cadets. Fun story for later

"That doesn't really explain how you gotten the brass to make a new designation for yourself" Anderson pointed out as Dana let out another chuckle

"Well you see I not only did well, first of my class to be exact, but apparently when I developed my own style of fighting when it comes to combat it caused several instructors that were overlooking the training to become scared of me. . . . Possibly because I'm usually covered in blood by the end of whatever conflict I'm in, and it's usually not my blood to boot. . . I think it also had to do with the fact that I decided to ditch my squad behind during an intense mission to keep them safe while I went into a heavy fortified base by myself and four stiletto pistols" Dana said as Anderson blinked

"Repeat that, you did what?" Anderson asked as the absurdity he is hearing couldn't be real but the look in her eyes states that what she's saying is true

"Nothing really just that I, assaulted a heavily fortified hostile base by myself, killed all the hostiles in said base and then deactivated the defense turrets to allow the other trainees in, all under five minutes. I also found that there was another base up on the moon of the planet we were on that was hidden by the ever dark side of it. We shuttled up to the moon where I once again killed all the pirates, got the information and ended the training assignment for the day with six hours of extra free time. Well for me, the others still had to train. Man they were pissed at me for doing all the work" Dana said shaking her head with a chuckle "So I was essentially doing all that stuff everyday for my N training that when they decided to finally promote me to stop hampering others progress they couldn't just designate me to N7 because honestly that's an insult if I ever heard of one to someone of my caliber" Dana said with a scoff

Anderson stared at her and realized she was telling the truth. This surprised him, no one person could take a heavily fortified area without discretion, but the way Dana explained it to him she literally just went in guns blazing and actually won in the end

". . . Okay, let's just say I believe this, mind explaining what this fighting style that you talked about is?" Anderson asked calmly while feeling he did something horrible for giving the girl the chance to develop these skills because the universe is not ready for her at all, ever.

"You see, I learned that I really don't like using assault rifles, shotguns, or sniper rifles. Though the last one is fun to use as a club but it usually broke after I caved in several heads with it" Dana said with a weary sigh that just made Anderson just stare at her blankly some more before she continued "That's when I tried my hands in using pistols where I apparently learned that I love to dual wield pistols during this time" Dana said with a smile

". . .Most people aren't able to use two pistols due to the force they have on people's arms that they are only recommended with both hands. Turians might not have a problem because of they have tougher body's than humans but most would prefer to train in either assault rifles or sniper rifles due to standard traditions" Anderson said after a moment to take in with what she just said

"True but apparently I can, hell most of the trainees and supervisors called me the 'Dancer of Death' because it looks I'm dancing on the battlefield while brutally murdering everyone upfront with a smile on my face" Dana said with a chuckle

"Wait, upfront. Do you actually run up to the hostiles and shoot them point blank" Anderson deadpanned as he couldn't believe what he was hearing

"Usually, why do you ask?" Dana said with a smile as Anderson pinched the bridge of his nose before looking back at her

"Never mind, how about you tell me why people aren't informed of your new designation rank. I would've thought there be an uproar of news crews wanting to see the first N8 in existence" Anderson asked tiredly as this conversation apparently took a lot of him

"Well, the assembly for me receiving this designation just happened an hour ago. That and the admirals wanted to keep this under wraps for a bit before they release this news to the press" Dana said with a shrug "That and I said to them if they put me on stage with a million cameras on me I would, and quote 'I am going to murder someone with an honest to god smile on my face" Dana said with a smile as Anderson couldn't help but scoff

"Understandable, they are quite irritable with getting those cameras of theirs in your face" Anderson agreed with a dry tone as Dana nodded

"So now we got what I'm doing here out of the way, what are you doing here?" Dana inquired as she wasn't really expecting to see him here

"I'm just here for a meeting that is being held on the station. I'll be leaving tomorrow on my ship the SSV Tokyo. What about you, do you know where you'll be assigned" Anderson asked of her

"I was actually on the way to meet my new CO before I saw you. I'm actually going to be part of the 103rd Marine Division that will be patrolling the Skyllian Verge. From what I know we'll probably be fending off several pirate and slave raids for a few years before I get sent somewhere else. I don't mind, killing batarians while heading to different parts of a galaxy I haven't really visited yet. Seems like a good compromise to what I was doing before I came here" Dana said with a smirk

"Glad I convinced you to come then" Anderson said with a smirk as well

"A little, probably would've done the same thing but illegally. At least now I have jurisdiction to hunt down pirates without getting the law involved because I am the law now" Dana said with a chuckle

Anderson let out a small laugh himself while shaking his head "Well" Anderson before giving her a salute "Good luck in your tour Shepard" Anderson said

Dana smiled and snapped into a salute as well "Aye aye captain" Dana said before the two headed off to their designations ". . . Strange, that conversation made me think I'm forgetting something" Dana muttered to herself and stopped walking to think. Nothing came to mind and she just shrugged "Eh, it's probably nothing important" Dana said before pulling out her Omni Tool and made a call

"How's it going Dana, haven't talked to you in quite some time" Her brother's voice said, resonating from her Omni tool

"I know, I was busy" Dana said as she leaned against a random building

"Really, sightseeing again?" Alex asked calmly

"Nah, just finished up training and is now being assigned to a marine division is all" Dana said before slowly realizing what was that thing she was forgetting to do

". . . . Dana. . What the hell are you talking about" Alex said slowly with his voice raising ever so slightly

". . . . ."

"Dana!" Alex shouted angrily when she didn't reply

". . .Promise you won't be mad" Dana said nervously

". . . . I promise that I'll _try_ to hold back my rage" Alex said slowly

"Okay I might have, joined the Alliance military" Dana said sheepishly

"YOU WHAT!" Alex shouted and started to rant about how stupid she was

Dana let out a sigh as she knew this was going to take awhile but he'll probably get over it. . .Eventually, but it's her life so she'll live it anyway she wants

Because to her, this is all but fun

* * *

 **And that's all to it people, I hoped you enjoyed it**

 **The next update will be awhile because I'll be tending to my other stories so don't expect to see this update for awhile.**

 **Also to those wondering why Dana actually decided to join the Alliance is simple. Unlike Alex she does have a greater sense of morality than her brother could ever have which is why she actually joined, thinking it would do some good before she would have to disappear once again.**

 **Now you're thinking, Alex can be good if he wanted to, sure Alex would help a random person once or twice in awhile but that's because he honestly hates looking at stuff that are so disappointing and miserable. One of the reasons why he went to Omega**

 **Which brings us to Alex becoming the 'King' of Omega. Honestly I could think of no better place for Alex but Omega for its blunt debauchery, violence, immoral standards that just makes him feel at home with his brutal methods. It also helps that when he murders someone he wouldn't have to feel bad if they were a good person because nearly everyone committed a heinous crime or two.**

 **Now the N8 bit, well the thing is I understand N7 is the status of being a great soldier but we're talking about Dana who essentially has thousands if not millions of soldiers in her that make her a deadly force with a gun. Sure she didn't really play well with the team in the chapter she was with and that was part of the program to pass but that's because Dana prefers to have soldiers that she can actually feel she could rely on so she did nearly everything by herself. Anyone else is just cannon fodder in her opinion or a dumb rookie waving a gun in the air who has no idea what to do. Yes I know N7 is the epitome of being a good solider but the graduation rate is very low as it is because they weren't cut out for it**

 **.**

 **Now instead of ranting about something else instead of the point I was trying to make. The reason I gave Dana the designation of N8 is because she is honestly the best soldier in existence. Dana is a sharpshooter, infiltration expert, demolition expert, master at close quarters combat, interrogator (Without the consuming part), and diplomat extraordinaire. Dana is all this and more because of what she is.** **That's the reason why she's N8 because no one could ever match her in her skills, ever. Besides I'm planning on doing something with it in the future**

 **Now I'm sure I covered everything that's important, if not I'll cover it in the beginning of the next chapter**

 **Until then, please leave a comment, review, or PM and I'll see you all later, have a good day.**


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